Kentucky Trip

We had an unexpected whirlwind trip to KY last weekend for Bob's Aunt Vickie's funeral. Funerals are always sad, but we are glad Aunt Vickie is healthy again in heaven with so many other loved ones, and it was great to see other family that we don't get to see very often anymore.
We did the 10 hour drive there on Sunday getting to the hotel around midnight, and the plan was to get back in the van Monday after the funeral (hopefully by 2pm) for the drive home. Well, around supper time, the kids were miserable, the driver was tired, and mom had had enough. So my fabulous husband allowed me to change the plans and be spontaneous! (He's the best!!!) So, we found a good exit, hit the Target for Chutes & Ladders and some Ben & Jerry's and crashed at a hotel for a fun family evening, a decent bedtime, a yummy hot breakfast, and a much more pleasant conclusion to our journey the next morning! Yay Dad, we made a great memory instead of just making great time - much more lasting!

Then Ethan got creative on the last bit of our journey. Unfortunately, I realized way too late that it was entirely too quiet in the back seat. When I turned around, this is what I found! Ethan, didn't want to color in his coloring book, so he just colored his arms and his left hand instead. Should've gotten him the Crayola Color Wonder markers! Oh well, most of it washed off at the next McDonalds where we dragged a chair into the bathroom for him to stand on so I didn't have to hold him up the whole time I scrubbed both arms three times each! Now that I think about it, that probably violates a health code for not taking dining room furniture into the restroom, but I didn't think about it at the time. I had been traveling in a van with two kids for almost 20 of the last 36 hours! Good times!

This is his 'I-think-i'm-about-to-get-in-trouble-for-this' face!

Sunday Afternoon at the Ballet

Carrie's first professional ballet! She was so excited.Carrie and mom enjoying our awesome seats - front row center balcony!I found out that the Northwest Flofida Ballet Company was doing Cinderella and I knew I had to take Carrie! It was a wonderful experience. Carrie is familiar enough with the Cinderella story that she only asked about 300 questions durikng the whole thing (I can only imagine it would have been in the thousands for the Nutcracker!) And she seemed to really enjoy watching the dancing (not one word or sound effect other than the orchestra through the entire 2 hour performance!) And the really cool part is that Carrie's ballet recital this spring willl be at the same theater - same stage! She liked Cinderella's wedding dress and the Fairy Godmother's costume the best. She liked that the court jester could do cartwheels with no hands! And she liked that Cinderella got a robe for the wedding scene that took up almost the whole stage! It was so great!!!

the step-sisters getting ready for the royal ball

the Fairy Godmother
Cinderella dancing with the Prince at the ball Cinerella trying on her slipper the Wedding Scene - the long white things are the royal robes The End - Cinderella's curtsythe whole cast Carrie right in front of the stage for a picture op with Cinderella's magic coach.

Carrie's been taking a Ballet-Tumbling class since September and she has loved it! She couldn't do anything except stand on tiptoes and sit with her legs criss-crossed when she first started and now she's doing cartwheels and round-offs! She wanted me to make a movie so she could see what she looks like doing her stunts! Enjoy!

Here's one of Ethan and Bob's best stunts!